Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Feature suggestion: "tla inventory -0"

From:

Tom Lord

Subject:

Re: [Gnu-arch-users] Feature suggestion: "tla inventory -0"

Date:

Sun, 28 Dec 2003 12:17:01 -0800 (PST)

> From: Florian Weimer <address@hidden>
> Despite 20 years of LISP as a GNU programming language,
GNU spent half that time just reimplementing the legacy tools. Would
you rather GNU had started by creating/inspiring a free unix
environment -- or had just tried to simultaneously revolutionize
_both_ software licensing _and_ software architecture? The Hurd
should give you an idea of where trying to do both might have wound
up. That we had to keep reminding users of some OSs to install, say,
GNU awk (because unlike their native awk, GNU's actually works) should
give you some idea of why the more conservative approach wasn't wasted
(not to mention making you wonder what the hell proprietary unix
vendors actually _did_, technology-wise, in the 80s).
There hasn't been as much actual expenditure of effort by the GNU
project on lisp as you might have guessed.
I've been working on the problem incrementally, mostly in the
background, for about 16 or 17 years. The project has finally reached
an interesting stage (though it has spun off a number of interesting
ancillary merchandise in the interval, arch not least among that).
Meanwhile, others have, working quite independently, saved me a lot of
work by working how how various parts should look.
The next few years have a chance of being interesting.
-t